Page from one of the now-withdrawn Reading Horizons “Little Books” –
Sarah Lahm started telling the story in August: A corporate contractor got more than a million dollars from Minneapolis Public Schools and delivered offensive teacher training and racist books. Nine or ten blog posts later, the story continues to grow and now the Washington Post has picked it up, crediting Lahm for her investigative reporting, which uncovered the scandal. Continue reading
Had enough of this week’s death and horror? Here are six stories of hope and action, from Austria to California to Minnesota. Sometimes I need to focus on these stories to continue believing that each of us can make a difference. If you need that lift, too, read on. Continue reading
Filed under immigration, media, race
As usual, many of this year’s crop art entries reflect political issues.
I love the Minnesota State Fair. But dang it all — Black Lives Matter is right about structural/institutional racism at the Fair and in the state. So I went to the fair today, and I also plan to go to the #BlackFair march on Saturday. I agree with Julie Blaha, who wrote in a letter to the editor to the Strib:
“I love the State Fair with a passion that borders on obsession … [but] I have no problem with disruption for a good cause.
“If I’m willing to wait half an hour for deep-fried pickles, I can spend a little time on something as important as ending racism. Fairgoers, the least we can do for our neighbors suffering injustice is to put down the mini doughnuts for a bit and listen.”
Filed under race
Just for today, take one small step to remember Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, one year ago today. Read one story (doesn’t have to be this one), say one prayer, send one check to an organization working for racial justice, talk to one family member or friend about race. Just for today, take one step, and then tomorrow, take another. One step after another, getting on the road.
Today, dozens of news reports say that Michael Brown’s family is still mourning his death, one year later. Well, yeah. Lots of families still mourn: Eric Garner. Tamir Rice. Samuel Dubose. Freddie Gray. Sandra Bland. Walter Scott. Eric Harris. The list goes on and on.
Last year, when Michael Brown was shot by a police officer, we didn’t know how many people were shot and killed by police in the U.S. every year. No government agency counted these deaths. A British newspaper stepped up. The Guardian’s The Counted project documents people killed by police in the United States. So far this year: 700. At the beginning of June, the Guardian reported:
“The Guardian’s statistics include deaths after the police use of a Taser, deaths caused by police vehicles and deaths following altercations in police custody, as well as those killed when officers open fire. They reveal that 29% of those killed by police, or 135 people, were black. Sixty-seven, or 14%, were Hispanic/Latino, and 234, or 50%, were white. In total, 102 people who died during encounters with law enforcement in 2015 were unarmed.
“The figures illustrate how disproportionately black Americans, who make up just 13% of the country’s total population according to census data, are killed by police. Of the 464 people counted by the Guardian, an overwhelming majority – 95% – were male, with just 5% female.”
Race matters. Race matters in life as well as in death. Ta-Nehisi Coates explained in “Letter to My Son” that: “Here is what I would like for you to know: In America, it is traditional to destroy the black body— it is heritage.” He asked readers to respond with their own stories of racism. They did, by the hundreds, their responses published in three separate Atlantic articles. One of the stories in the first article comes from a 35-year-old Florida reader, who begins:
“Crazy. Today is Sunday, July 5th. About two hours ago, I saw a tweet from Bomani Jones about Ta-Nehisi’s piece “Letter to My Son” and read it of course. It was a break from some work I was completing. I saw the request for personal stories about “The Talk.” (One of the commandments my mother gave me: When I get pulled over, pull over in a populated area so there will be witnesses.) I thought I would email a story later this week. I resumed my work but realized I needed a book I had left at the office. It’s about 20 minutes from my house, so I hopped in the car.”
He details the police following him, his stop at a gas station, what they say and do, and what he thinks, on a Sunday afternoon, near his home, before he is finally released to go get his book and resume his life:
“We walk up to my car so I can get my ID. I am fuming. I get my wallet and slam my door. ‘Calm down, I could be worse,’ says the other officer. I say, ‘I’m stopped here. Gun drawn on me. You’re right. I could be shot.’ He responds, ‘You don’t understand.’ I bite my tongue before I go off. I don’t understand? It’s a Sunday afternoon and here I am standing in a gas station parking lot, with my hands on my head, after having a gun pulled on me and patted down by an officer, all while another officer circled my vehicle with his hand on his weapon. He had a point; I guess the threat of being shot is better than being shot.”
Read the stories — Part I, Part II, and Part III. Today most white Americans say they are satisfied with the way that black Americans are treated. Not surprisingly, most black Americans disagree. One encouraging sign — the percentage of white Americans who are satisfied has dropped from 67 percent in 2013 to 53 percent in 2015. We can learn.
We must learn. And we must act. The problem with racism in this country goes far beyond policing. Racism shapes housing and segregation. Racism deforms education. Denial perpetuates its reign.
So step one: Read one story. Say a prayer. Send a check, Talk to someone. Take one step today. And another tomorrow.
Filed under human rights, race
image from Supreme Court website
Three cheers for SCOTUS! Well – two cheers today for the health care and fair housing decisions, and here’s hoping we can give the third cheer soon for a marriage equality decision. The Supreme Court of the United States again upheld Obamacare, and also issued a tremendously important fair housing decision that could have specific application to Twin Cities housing policies. Rightwing Justice Antonin Scalia is so mad he’s almost frothing at the mouth, saying the legislation should be called “SCOTUScare” and condemning the court for “interpretive jiggery-pokery.” Personally, I think that we could use a little more of that jiggery-pokery. Continue reading
Filed under health care, health insurance, housing, human rights
Since 1979, the U.S. prison system has ballooned out of control. We now have the highest rate of incarceration in the world — 716 for every 100,000 residents. Minnesota has followed the trend. Our prison population went from less than 2,500 in 1978 to 10,000 in 2011, according to the Prison Policy Initiative’s analysis of Bureau of Justice statistics. That’s a change from about 50 people per 100,000 to almost 200 per 100,000 — much lower than the national rate, but still higher than the rates of all European countries except Russia and Azerbaijan. Continue reading
Filed under human rights, prisons
In the morning, South High School students held a sit in for four and half hours (the length of time Michael Brown’s body was on the street after he was killed). Then they walked out and marched to the Minneapolis police 3rd precinct. Police cars blocked traffic for the march. 2014-11-25 This photo and text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License by Fibonacci Blue
What can any one person do in the face of #Ferguson and grief over a child’s death and despair over a country’s continuing racism and failure? What can any white person say, in the face of so much white failure, white racism, white guilt? Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
The right-wing attack on Shirley Sherrod succeeded in introducing a heroic figure to the mainstream media, after they – and the Obama administration and the NAACP – recovered from their initial knee-jerk defensive response. Time Magazine published an article introducing the real Shirley Sherrod and her long-time struggle for justice within the USDA: Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
Black women and breast cancer Black women would be disproportionately affected by changes in mammogram practices, report the TC Daily Planet and NPR. The TC Daily Planet reports:
According to the National Cancer Institute’s Snapshot of Breast Cancer, the incidence of breast cancer is highest in whites, but African Americans have higher mortality rates. In fact, African Americans have higher mortality rates from breast cancer than any other racial or ethnic group, and the gap is widening.
Filed under news
pandore - Fotolia.com
The war at home claims another life Pamela Taschuk, a 48-year-old juvenile probation officer and social worker, died Thursday, another casualty of the war at home. According to AP, Allen Taschuk dropped their 16-year-old son off at a gas station and then went to find and klll Pamela. Then he killed himself.
Pamela Taschuk was afraid of her husband, and had gotten a no contact order to keep him away after she filed for divorce last month.
AP: Since 1995, police were called to the Taschuk home 48 times – 22 domestic-related. Allen Taschuk was arrested three times, the most recent Aug. 26.
Pamela Taschuk told police that she feared for her life. The no contact order did not protect her.
Less than a month ago, North St. Paul police officer Richard Crittenden responded to a call for help from another woman with a violent partner. Like Pamela Taschuk, she had obtained a no contact order, in which the court told her partner to stay away from her.
MPR: Stacey Terry, his wife, had filed three orders for protection against him over the past nine years.
Like Allen Taschuk, Devon Dockery violated the no contact order. When Officer Crittenden answered the call for help on September 7, Dockery shot and killed him.
In 1994, the Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). According to MS Magazine, VAWA “changed the way the judicial system handles cases of intimate partner violence and increased the availability of public resources for victims.”
Pamela Taschuk is one of more than 200 women killed in domestic violence in Minnesota since 2000. The tools we use to address domestic violence may have improved with VAWA and subsequent state legislation, but those tools are not good enough.
The Star Tribune reports that St. Paul is about to launch a new initiative, called the Blueprint to assess when higher bail should be set for defendants in domestic violence cases.
“In the really lethal cases, our arrest or prosecution of them is not a deterrent to stopping their stalking or battery. It does deter them when they’re locked up,” [Comdr Steven Frazer, head of the Family and Sexual Violence Unit at the St. Paul Police Department], said. “We’re not making an argument on whether he’s coming back to court next week. We’re making an argument on whether he’s a threat to the people he’s been in contact with that warrants some other level of review.” …
According to most recent statistics, Frazer said, 54 percent of women killed in domestic situations had told police they believed they were going to be killed.
The Blueprint might have made a difference for Pam Taschuk. Her husband was released on $5,000 bail a month before he killed her.
The Blueprint might have made a difference for Officer Richard Crittenden. Dockery had been arrested more than once on charges related to domestic violence. He was arrested on August 26 on charges of violating the order of protection.
Here’s another suggestion — use technology to enforce the no contact orders. Both parties can wear an electronic ankle bracelet, and if they come in close proximity to one another, an alarm would sound in the police station. (Hat tip to Ron Salzberger for this suggestion.) For some people, the knowledge that the police would be alerted might be a deterrent.
Of course, higher bail and stricter monitoring won’t solve all the problems. Rebecca McLane, program manager for the St. Paul Domestic Abuse Intervention Program, told the Star Tribune that a shift in society’s attitudes is needed.
Part of that, she said, would involve prioritizing. “If we could have anything in the world that we wanted, it would be more shelters, more advocates, more cops on the streets, and more close monitoring of these dangerous offenders,” said McLane, who added that the metro’s dozen battered-women’s shelters are nearly always full.
MNDOT moves the goalpost After years of failing to meet its own goal for contracting with women and minority-owned firms, the MN Department of Transportation has finally figured it out: rather than increasing hiring/contracting efforts, they will cut the goal. MPR reports:
For nearly the entire decade, companies awarded MNDOT contracts have fallen short, sometimes far short, of meeting hiring goals for women and minority subcontractors. …
A MnDOT consultant several years ago concluded contractors can attain the 15 percent goal since there are nearly 400 certified women and minority-owned construction companies. …
[Bernie Arseneau, director of the agency’s policy, safety and strategic initiatives division] said MnDOT’s goal for next year is 9 percent.
Hiring minority and women construction workers is the other half of the MNDOT challenge, and, reports MPR, “Every year for the past several years, the number of women and minority construction workers has stayed the same or declined.”
After months of protests led by the HIRE MN coalition, MNDOT has also found a way to address that problem, by hiring a consultant and agreeing to talk about the problem. For the first time, MNDOT also agreed to meet with HIRE MN representatives.
Sounds a lot like the MNDOT position back in March, as reported by the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder:
“For the first time, we are bringing all of the stakeholders together:
contractors, unions, minority groups, advocates, community groups, big contractors, DBEs, women, businesses, Mn/DOT, federal highway [officials]…so that we can grow the DBEs in such a way that serves the community needs, the contractors’ needs, and ultimately the needs of the citizens of Minnesota.“We are fully and wholly committed to this transformational change,” said Arseneau.
Except that now the goalpost is lower.
Somali president visits The president of Somalia, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, visited the Twin Cities this weekend, meeting with community members, parents of Minnesota Somali youth who have gone to fight with militias, Minnesota politicians, and the Books for Africa project. On Sunday, he spoke to an overflow crowd at Northrup Auditorium. Minnesota is home to an estimated 70,000 Somalis, the largest population in the United States.
The Star Tribune reported that the president gave Somali families “assurances from Somalia’s leader that he would publicly denounce Al-Shabab.” Since Al-Shabab is the leading group fighting to overthrow his government, that seems like a safe bet. The Strib also reported that the president promised to find out who was recruiting the young men and to work for their return home.
Seifert wins GOP straw poll State Representative Marty Seifert came in first, with 37 percent of the vote, trailed by state Rep. Tom Emmer with 23 percent and former state auditor Pat Anderson (14 percent) and state Sen. David Hann (12 percent.)
About 1,200 delegates to the MN Republican convention voted in a straw poll Saturday, reports the Pioneer Press, which also cautioned that, “off-year straw polls are unreliable crystal balls” for predicting the eventual nominee.
Seifert, however, had a more optimistic assessment of the straw poll’s implications. “Republicans want to bet on a winner,” Seifert said. “They don’t want to bet on the horse heading to the glue factory.
The Pioneer Press reported that other candidates had less reason for optimism:
State Rep. Paul Kohls finished fifth with 5 percent of the vote. Trailing far behind were former state Rep. Bill Haas, Sen. Mike Jungbauer, businessman Phil Herwig and frequent candidate Leslie Davis.
Delegates also voted separately for their second choice for governor, and Hann (18 percent) came out first in that poll, followed by Emmer and Anderson.
War Reports
Afghanistan Eight U.S. troops were killed in a Taliban attack in the Nuristan province near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, reports NPR. Five or six Afghan fighters were also killed in the attack, and the Taliban fighters captured 15 Afghan police, including the chief and deputy chief.
Nearly 300 militant fighters flooded the lower, Afghan outpost then swept around it to reach the American station on higher ground from both directions, said Mohammad Qasim Jangulbagh, the provincial police chief. The U.S. military statement said the Americans and Afghans repelled the attack by tribal fighters and “inflicted heavy enemy casualties.”
Jamaludin Badar, governor of Nuristan province, complained about lack of security and lack of coordination between Afghan and allied forces. The U.S. forces plan to withdraw from the region.
Pakistan Five people in a U.N. food agency office were killed by a suicide bomber in an upscale area of Islamabad on Monday, according to NPR. The New York Times report on the bombing said about 80 people work in offices “equipped with video surveillance cameras, motion detectors and explosives detection devices.” The U.N. immediately ordered a temporary closure of all offices in Pakistan.
The bombing came a day after Hakimullah Mehsud, the new Taliban leader, appeared at a press conference. BBC reports:
Hakimullah Mehsud said his group would avenge the killing of former Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud by striking back at Pakistan and the US.
He said he would retaliate against recent efforts on the part of the US and Pakistani security forces to target senior Taliban figures.
Because of security fears, the press conference was attended only by five journalists who are members of Mehsud’s clan.
Iraq The government arrestred about 150 suspected Sunni militants in the Mosul area, according to BBC. The militants allegedly have ties to either al-Qaeda or the now-outlawed Baath political party formerly headed by Saddam Hussein.
Filed under news
Mary Turck